Protection of sheet glass during the manufacturing process is necessary to prevent scratches and damage to the major surfaces of the glass. Scratching and damage to the glass sheet typically is inflicted by handling equipment or during cutting and edge grinding steps. Damage also occurs as a result of particles or chips contacting the surface of the sheet during initial cutting and handling of the sheet. One known method of protecting the glass sheet is to apply a polymer film on both major surfaces of the glass sheet. One major surface has a polymer film attached to the sheet with an adhesive, and this sheet is removed after the edge finishing of the sheet is completed. The other major surface has a film which is attached by static charge. This film is removed prior to the finishing process.
While the adhesive backed film does protect the surface from scratching induced by the handling equipment, it causes other problems. One problem associated with the adhesive backed film is the build up of glass chips during the edge finishing process which causes scratching of the glass near the edge due to chips entrapped in polymer caught in the finishing equipment. Another problem with the adhesive backed polymer film is adhesive residue.
It would be desirable to provide a temporary protective coating early in the glass sheet manufacturing process that could easily removed after processing of the glass. It would be useful if the coating could be applied at a point during the manufacturing process wherein a separate, additional manufacturing step was not required. Finally, it would be advantageous to have a coating that is not environmentally harmful.